PRACTICE GUIDE ALL OPTIONS
All Options Sequences: what the test is, and how to train for it
The All Options sequences screen is 26 questions in 5 minutes - about 12 seconds each - answered by typing the number, with no calculator. There is no negative marking, so leaving an item blank gains you nothing over guessing.
Where it sits: Same sitting as the arithmetic test. The practice sitting on this page runs the same item count, the same clock and the same marking rule, with questions generated by Outcry rather than taken from All Options.
Outcry is not affiliated with All Options and has no access to their assessment content. This guide describes an assessment format that candidates report publicly; the questions here are generated by Outcry and are not All Options’s own.
What it screens
An Amsterdam equity derivatives market maker with a desk in Austin, Texas.
- ✓First and second differences, ratios, and alternating patterns
- ✓Interleaved sequences (two rules taking turns)
- ✓Squares, cubes, primes and factorials recognised on sight
- ✓Committing to an answer with seconds left
Where it sits at All Options
This section does not arrive on its own. It closes the paper, and the sitting around it runs 13 minutes and 106 items in total, with Arithmetic on the same continuous clock. Candidates who prepare only for this round tend to be caught by the pacing of the rest.
There is no going back. You answer or skip, and the next item loads, which means the decision to leave an item is final at the moment you make it.
The format
These are the numbers the All Options sitting on this site runs on, matching the format candidates report.
| Questions | 26 |
|---|---|
| Time | 5 minutes |
| Per question | 12 seconds |
| Negative marking | No |
| Answer style | Typed numeric answer, no calculator |
| Where it sits | Same sitting as the arithmetic test |
What it tests, with a worked example
Every example below is generated by Outcry, drawn from the same question generators the timed drills run. None of them is All Options’s.
Arithmetic and geometric runs
A constant difference or a constant ratio, sometimes with the first term chosen to hide it.
Example 1
5, 50, 9, 33, 13, ?
Answer 16
Interleaved sequences: odd positions rise slowly from near zero, evens drop rapidly.
Example 2
2, 93, 4, 77, 6, ?
Answer 61
Interleaved sequences: odd positions rise slowly from near zero, evens drop rapidly.
Example 3
3, 75, 8, 58, 13, ?
Answer 41
Interleaved sequences: odd positions rise slowly from near zero, evens drop rapidly.
Operation chains
Each term built from the last by a repeating operation cycle rather than one rule.
Example 1
11, 13, 17, 19, 23, ? What comes next?
Answer 29
Consecutive primes from 11. After 23 comes 29.
Example 2
1, 8, 27, 64, 125, ? What comes next?
Answer 216
Cubes from 1³. Next is 6³ = 216.
Example 3
4, 8, 12, 16, 20, ? What comes next?
Answer 24
Twice the last minus the one before: 2 × 20 - 16 = 24.
Committing under time
A sequence you cannot crack is a skip, not a guess, wherever the paper marks negatively.
Ratio runs that are not geometric
Terms whose ratios themselves move, which reads as geometric until the third term breaks it.
Example 1
34, 37, 40, 43, 46, ? What comes next?
Answer 49
Each term adds 3, so 46 + 3 = 49.
Example 2
9, 24, 54, 114, 234, ? What comes next?
Answer 474
Double and add 6: 234 × 2 + 6 = 474.
Example 3
10, 25, 55, 115, 235, ? What comes next?
Answer 475
Double and add 5: 235 × 2 + 5 = 475.
Position-dependent rules
The rule uses the index rather than the previous term, so differences never settle.
Example 1
What comes next: 5, 10, 30, 120, 600, ?
Answer 3600
The multiplier grows: ×2, ×3, ×4, ×5, so next is ×6: 600 × 6 = 3600.
Example 2
How many numbers from 1 to 150 are divisible by 3 or by 5?
Answer 70
50 multiples of 3, 30 of 5, and 10 counted twice as multiples of 15: 50 + 30 − 10 = 70.
Example 3
What comes next: 1, 8, 27, 64, 125, ?
Answer 216
Cubes from 1: next is 6³ = 216.
Sequences with a planted decoy
An opening that fits two rules, where the fourth term is what decides between them.
Example 1
4, 14, 54, 214, 854, 3414, ?
Answer 13654
Each term is 4 times the last, minus 2. 4 × 3414 − 2 = 13654.
Example 2
6, 3, 18, 9, 54, 27, ?
Answer 162
Two sequences interleaved, both multiplying by 3. Positions 1, 3 and 5 run 6, 18, 54, so the next is 162.
Example 3
34, 38, 46, 58, 62, 74, ?
Answer 82
These are twice each prime, starting at 17. The gaps do not settle, which is the hint. The next prime after 37 is 41, so the answer is 82.
What a good score looks like
On a paper of 26 questions with no penalty for a wrong answer, the only thing an unanswered question can do is cost you. These are usually scored alongside the arithmetic section rather than reported separately, so a standalone cutoff is rarely visible. Candidates describe the sequences round as the one that responds fastest to practice, because the rule families are few.
How to train for it
- 01Learn to take first and second differences automatically, before trying anything cleverer. It resolves most items on its own.
- 02Memorise the small squares, cubes, primes and factorials to sight-recognition. Deriving them is what costs the time.
- 03Give yourself a fixed budget per item and abandon at it. One sequence you refuse to let go of costs more than the three you never reach.
TRAIN IT HERE
The drills that match each section
Sequence Sprint
Timed next-term sequences, exactly the assessment format.
Arithmetic Drill
The raw calculation speed that sequence tests assume you already have.
SIT THE FULL BATTERY
All the sections back to back on one clock, marked the way the real screen marks them, with a by-skill breakdown at the end. Included with any pass.
Also reported at All Options
Common questions
- Is the All Options sequences test multiple choice?
- Typed numeric answer, no calculator. You type the number, so there is nothing to eliminate your way to.
- How long is the All Options sequences test?
- 26 questions in 5 minutes, which is about 12 seconds each.
- Is there negative marking on the All Options sequences test?
- No. A wrong answer costs nothing beyond the mark you would have earned, so leaving an item blank is never better than guessing at it.
- How do I practise for it free?
- Every drill linked on this page is free to play, with no account, inside a daily run cap. Questions are generated fresh each run, so there is nothing to memorise between attempts. The full All Options Trading Assessment sitting puts the sections back to back on one clock.